1910] MCCUBBIN—DEVELOPMENT OF THE HELVELLINEAE 197 
The following investigations have been undertaken for the pur- 
pose of enlarging our knowledge of the ontogeny of the Helvellineae, 
and in the hope that fuller information will be of assistance in dealing 
with the phylogeny of the group. The complex fructifications of 
the Helvellineae could scarcely be expected to furnish promising 
material for working out some of the cytological problems that have 
been attracting attention in certain other divisions of the Ascomycetes, 
involving the sexuality of the Ascomycetes and their affinities with 
other Thallophyta, yet certain phenomena have come to light that 
prove interesting and suggestive. 
Rather complete series of several genera of the Helvellineae have 
been accumulated and are being studied. Any theoretical consider- 
ations will be deferred to a later paper. 
Helvella elastica 
MATERIAL AND METHODS.—The young stages of the material ex- 
amined were taken from a bank of loose damp sand in High Park, 
Toronto, and were collected in July 1908. They were fixed in several 
Ways and cut in series in paraffin. Staining was tried with Erlich’s 
hematoxylin, iron hematoxylin, safranin, eosin, rubin S, Flemming’s 
triple stain, methylene blue, and several others. Iron hematoxylin 
and F lemming’s triple stain gave the best results, the former making 
the nuclei prominent and the latter bringing out the general features. 
Macerations were also found to be valuable, the crushed material being 
stained on the slide with safranin or methylene blue. 
Some tentative attempts were made to produce the mycelium of 
several Helvellineae from. spores, with the hope of arriving at the 
young stages of the fruiting bodies by laboratory cultures. The 
results, however, are as yet insufficient to justify any statement. 
I would here acknowledge my indebtedness to Professor J. H. 
FAULL for material and advice throughout this investigation, and to 
Mr. R. B. Tuomson for many courtesies. 
MYcetium.—The mycelium of Helvella elastica is easily obtained 
by washing the earth surrounding young fruiting bodies. It con- 
Sists of long, sparsely branched, interwoven filaments about 0.03- 
0-o4™™" in diameter. These filaments are often connected by anas- 
tomoses (figs. 3-5). The cells are multinucleate, containing 2-16 
